Chapter 1: Contraction

"Screech! Screech! Screech!"

"Mmmh." Syaoran grunted out as the sound of his phone's alarm pierced through his sleepy self. Slowly, he opened his eyes while his hand groped blindly for his phone, which was on a cupboard next to his bed, until he felt his finger bump into it's corner. He grabbed it and quickly disabled the obnoxious alarm, though he was a little blinded by the flash of it's display.

'5.30, that's odd.' he thought to himself as he read the digits on his phone. He shut off the alarm and rubbed his eyes. He had set three alarms in five-minute intervals to reduce his chances of oversleeping with 5.30 being the last. Despite that, he had usually always woken up as soon as the first alarm rang.

'Well, whatever.' It wasn't like he was late or anything. In fact, 5.30 was still comparatively early to his friends, who he found out during a conversation woke up around 6.00 on average since their school starts at 8.00. However, he had his own reason for waking up early; he wanted to walk with Sakura to school. Since Sakura's house was actually out of his way, he had to wake up earlier to get ready for school and meet her. Sakura herself had insisted on a closer meeting point so she wouldn't trouble him as much, but he gave himself extra time just to be safe, with 5.30 being the absolute latest he could get.

'Alright, I'll start getting ready.' With ten minutes gone, he just had to work faster; he'd take a shower, make his breakfast and lunch for the day and then go to meet Sakura. It was a slight change but he can work with it…

'Huh? That's weird.' Syaoran tried to lift himself from the bed to sit up but found he was lacking the strength. He tried a second time with more effort but managed to pick himself up a short distance before he gave way under his own weight. He panted in exhaustion and felt hot air on the tip of his nose, exceedingly hot. Alarm bells rang in his head. Immediately, he put his hand on his forehead. Sure enough, it was also hot and wet with beads of sweat. In fact, his whole body was sweating.

He was sick.

"I can't be sick." he muttered in defiance despite the evidence before him. Syaoran just couldn't accept it; he constantly made sure he was healthy especially since he was currently living alone. Even so, the feeling of exhaustion was overtaking him. He looked at the phone still in his hand. Through hazy vision, he saw the digits on his lock screen: 5.35.

"Have to… get ready." Bracing his hands, Syaoran pushed upwards with all his might until he finally sat up on his bed. 'Right.' One step done, he slid his feet down to the floor and slowly stood upright. He took a step slowly followed by another to make his way to the bathroom. Despite the slow steps, his breath was ragged. He tried his best to ignore it and looked at his destination: the bathroom door. Just a few more steps and he could reach the doorknob.

A wave of dizziness struck him and his vision started to waver. His head followed soon and spun wildly as if to tell him to lie down. In his delirium, he took an unbalanced step and tripped. In his current state, he could do little as his whole body followed suit. He fell flat to the ground hard enough to cause a thud. Through his confusion, he could feel pain from his knees and other parts of his body. He tried to muster the energy to get back up again but couldn't move himself from the floor. He shouldn't be lying on the floor. He had to get ready for school, he had to…

.

.

.

Syaoran opened his eyes to the surface of his bedroom floor. It took him a moment to remember why he was there.

"I had to go get ready."

'How long was I out?' He got up slowly to avoid further disorienting himself, walked back to his bed and sat on the edge. He took his phone, which was still on the bed next to his pillow and turned on the screen. The time read 7:10. Below the number, there were two notifications: a missed call one saying that he had three missed calls from Sakura and below it a message notification from Sakura.

'Dammit, I missed it.' He pressed the message notification and read Sakura's message. 'I see. She's on duty.' Judging by the time, she'd probably still be cleaning up the class now. He thought about calling her later to avoid disturbing her but decided he should do it now while he was capable of doing so. He pressed the call button and waited. Three dial tones later, the call connected and unmistakably cheery voice answered.

"Hello, Syaoran-kun?"

He smiled as he heard her speak through the phone It seemed her voice always had that effect on him. "Good morning, Sakura."

"Good morning, Syaoran-kun!" she replied with more cheer.

"I got your message. I'm sorry I couldn't come and meet you today." He was about to explain himself but remembered she was currently on duty. "I'm not disturbing you, aren't I?"

There was a slight pause from her end but she quickly came back. "Er, it's fine. Anyways why didn't you come?" She sounded like she was about to say more when she suddenly stopped.

"Syaoran-kun, are you okay?"

The question took him by surprise. He hadn't mentioned anything yet about being sick to her, but she had somehow picked up on it. It was then he realized he was breathing raggedly and the receiver must've picked up on it. Well, it wasn't like she wasn't going to find out sooner or later. Reluctantly, he answered her question.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I got a little fever so I couldn't meet you like usual."

Her reaction was immediate and explosive as he had anticipated. "Eh, you're sick?! Are you okay?! How bad is it?" Even though it was the truth, he felt some guilt in making her worry and quickly set out to defuse her concern.

"It's okay. It's not that bad." He couldn't tell if that was the truth or not. Certainly he had been sick before but he never recalled it being to this degree. His head was already getting heavier. "I just need to get some rest."

His words did not placate her worries. "How hot is your fever? Have you at least eaten something? Have you taken any medicine yet?"

"Don't worry, Sakura." He tried to sound as normal as possible. "I'm fine. I'll take some medicine and then I'll go back to bed."

"Is there something I can do? Maybe I can come over and-"

"No!" He cut her off immediately, then immediately checked his tone. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice. I just didn't want you to worry too much. Besides, if you catch my sickness I'll feel bad. Don't worry Sakura, I'll better in no time. You should get back to preparing the classroom." He made sure to sound as relaxed as possible. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

This time there was a long pause from the other end before Sakura spoke again. "Okay. Just be careful. Don't exert yourself too much."

"I won't." Syaoran felt a sting in his heart. Her voice sounded sad now. "Good bye, Sakura."

"Good bye, Syaoran-kun. Get well soon." With that, he hung up the phone before clutching his head with his hands.

'I'm an idiot.' He had intended to make sure Sakura wasn't worried but in the process had ended up raising her voice to her. Of course, he hated making Sakura worry for any reason, especially if it was because of him, but he had pushed too far. He clutched his head tighter, tangling his fingers within his brown hair.

'This damned cold!' Syaoran got up more determined than ever to get rid of his sickness. He had to get better soon so he could apologize face-to-face properly. He'll eat some food, take some medicine, change his clothes and then have a rest. Hopefully, things will get better by then.

They didn't.

Syaoran awoke again after the latest in a series of attempts at resting, the quality of which was subpar at best. Rather than fully sleeping, he cycled back and forth between sleeping and waking, never fully committing to either. He'd get a few moments of light sleep followed by an abrupt awakening. It didn't help that his fever became more intense; each time he woke up covered in sweat and burning was more uncomfortable than the last.

'Enough of this.' He sat up slowly and took a small towel he had put on the side of his bed and wiped down his sweat. Then, he went to the bathroom and returned to the bed. When he returned, he grabbed the thermometer by his bedside and placed the machine on his temple. After a beep, he removed it and looked at the reading.

'38.5C.' Syaoran leaned his head back to the head of his bed. His mind was tired from the constant back and forth between sleep and waking. Added to the dizziness from the fever, resting had overall made him all the more the restless.

Not that he'd done any favors for himself, either.Between the tossing and turning, he'd kept himself awake thinking about things. First, he tried to piece together how he got the cold and any possible people he could've contracted it from but couldn't find a result amongst his friends and ended up with nothing. Then, he thought about Sakura, which immediately brought up his earlier outburst. That made him so much more agitated that he forced himself to rest so he could quickly get better. The sense of urgency, however, didn't do any favors in helping him get some shuteye.

'If only there was a way to get better quickly.' Syaoran thought to himself. He cycled through the things he knew; eating hot food like porridge usually helped but as he currently was he didn't trust himself to be in the kitchen. His mind then wandered through a different kind of solution: magic. It was possible, but even with all the things he'd learned Syaoran didn't know anything to help with this kind of problem.

But he knew someone who might.

He reached for his phone and opened his contacts. Immediately, he typed in the contact profile of the person he was searching for. After finding it, he tapped the call button and waited for the reply. Three dial notes later, he heard the sound of the call connecting.

"Good afternoon, Xiao Lang."

Even through the receiver and separated by miles of sea, the voice of his mother commanded respect. "Good afternoon, Mother."

"You sound unwell. Is everything alright?"

'Nothing gets past her.' He thought to himself. If he wasn't used to it by now, it would be scary how quickly she picked up on things. "Yeah, I'm a little sick right now."

"It doesn't sound so little." she pointed out. True enough, his hoarse voice sounded sickly even to him. "Have you eaten something and taken medicine?"

"Yes, I have, but it's still running quite high. Do you know any remedies to help cure colds?"

There was a momentary silence before she answered. "Eating hot liquid foods is always a good option. If you're well enough make yourself some soup or porridge. Add some ginger if you have any available; it can help with your recovery. I'll send you some simple recipes. Also, don't forget to stay hydrated and take plenty of rest."

Syaoran listened to her suggestions; these were all good advice but there was another kind of remedy he had in mind. "What about magic? Are there any spells or incantations I could use? Maybe some potions or simple spells?"

This time there was a long pause. Syaoran waited expectantly for his mother's voice. Finally, she spoke again.

"Xiao Lang."

"Yes, Mother?"

"Don't be stubborn."

Syaoran tensed up. The message and the way she spoke it made it clear that she was angry. He swallowed nervously as he prepared himself for a scolding.

"Magic, despite the implication of the word, is not some shortcut to every problem. You are already sick. Using magic at your current state will only drain more of your energy. Besides, self-healing magic is not very effective; you're essentially taking back the energy you're giving out or less; something is always lost in between."

He could almost picture her standing over him and scolding him right now. Reflexively, he bent down his head in shame. "Or course, Mother. I'm sorry."

He could hear her sigh from the receiver. "I understand wanting to get better but sometimes the best remedy is to rest."

"Okay, Mother." he agreed, though so far it had been easier said than done.

There was a long pause from her end. Syaoran was about to ask if she was there when she spoke again. "Is something bothering you, Xiao Lang?"

Syaoran was stunned. This time it was actually scary just how precisely she'd hit the nail on the head. He considered not telling her; it would be easy to dismiss the question through a phone call even for his mother, but something told him not to do so.

"I did something I shouldn't have." The silence on the other end prodded him to continue. "I raised my voice to Sakura. I told her I was sick and she wanted to come over to help, but when she suggested it I just… yelled at her. I apologized straightaway but I want to do it properly to her face, so I want to get better quickly."

There was silence on the other end. Syaoran waited for what was coming. He'd never confided something like this to his mother before so he had no idea how she'd react.

"You want to apologize for yelling at her?"

"Yes." he replied nervously.

"Do you think it will be enough?"

'What?' Even with no expectations, he was surprised at her response. After all, apologizing was only natural if you did something wrong. Did she mean he had to do more? "What do you mean?"

"From what you've told me, you had a strong reaction when she wanted to come over. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Then do you know why you reacted that way?"

The question hit him like a bomb. He hadn't thought about the reason behind his action. Looking back, it was almost instinctive how he immediately yelled at her, but why was that? He thought back to what he had felt at the moment; he had felt…

"You can apologize for your mistake, but unless you know why you did it in the first place you're bound to repeat it again in the future. So find the answer to that question, Xiao Lang, and then apologize to her."

"Okay, I will. Thank you, Mother." It never ceased to amaze him how his mother can say the right thing every time.

"I'll send you the recipes, but if you're not up for it just eat anything available then take some medicine." She broke off a moment as she spoke to someone then returned to the call. "I have to go now, Xiao Lang. Get well soon. I'll call you later."

"Good bye, Mother."

He put down the phone as she hung up and sighed. That had not gone the way he planned at all, though he knew that he earned that scolding. Still, she had given him something to help nonetheless.

'Why did I yell at her?' Syaoran searched back to that moment. Back then, he'd felt a sudden spike in his heart as she said that. It was almost like a defensive reaction, but to what?

His stomach answered for him, growling loudly as it churned from within. 'That's not exactly helping.' he thought, but it reminded him of another crucial detail; he had only eaten two loaves of bread in the morning and had basically skipped lunch.

Right on cue, his phone lit up as the message from his mother came through. His attention momentarily went to the time, which read 16.07. 'She must be in club practice right now.' The yearning to see her grew in his heart, but he managed to restrain himself with effort. Right now, he had to focus on getting better.

Syaoran opened up the recipes. They were all simple and straightforward in preparation, so he chose one recipe which he had the most ingredients for. He was slightly worried about using the kitchen in his current state but he wanted to get better. 'I'll just have to be extra careful.' Just as he was about to get up though, he heard his doorbell rang.

'Who could it be at this hour?' Slowly, he got up and shambled towards his bedroom door. As he got out of his bedroom, the doorbell rang again.

"Coming!" he shouted out, but his hoarse voice came out rather weakly. He dismissed it and walked past the living room to the apartment door. Aware of how defenseless he was right now, he readied to summon his sword just in case as he unlocked the door and opened it. However, the person in front of him made him drop all guard and he could only utter out her name in surprise.

"Sakura?"